Technical Field
This application relates to a device for minimally invasive surgery and more particularly to a vacuum device for minimally invasive thoracic surgery.
Description of the Related Art
In recent years, new methods of access into the thoracic cavity have been developed in order to perform some of the surgical procedures done before through a median sternotomy. One minimally invasive method is called a mini-thoracotomy and involves access through an incision running intercostally (between two ribs) of the left chest wall. A surgical retractor is used as for the median sternotomy, but in this case, the superior and inferior rib cages of the left chest are spread apart about two inches, thus resulting in much less overall trauma to the bones, muscles, and other tissues in the chest. Subsequently, the patient endures less pain and irritation following the surgery and the recovery time is significantly decreased.
The mini-thoracotomy method of access to the thoracic cavity, however, has propagated the need for new surgical tools and methods because the opening into the thoracic cavity is considerably smaller than for the sternotomy. Also, since the internal mammary arteries are attached to the thoracic cavity wall, the angle of approach the surgeon must use through the opening is very difficult since the inferior rib cage tends to obstruct the manipulation of surgical devices used for the procedure.
During thoracic surgery, cancerous tumors may need to be removed. The need exists for instrumentation for such surgery to easily remove the tumors while avoiding seeding.